Central Notes: Love, Meeks, Monroe, Noah
The Cavaliers re-signed Kevin Love to a five-year max deal this summer, and LeBron James indicated Wednesday that getting the former All-Star involved is the team’s top offensive priority, notes Joe Vardon of the Northeast Ohio Media Group. Love is so far the team’s second-leading scorer, at 17.5 points per game, a point behind James.
“We’ll use Kevin however he wants to be used,” James said. “I told you Kevin is going to be our main focus. He’s going to have a hell of a season. He’s going to get back to that All-Star status. He’s the focal point of us offensively. I know I can go out and get mine when I need it. But I need Kev to be as aggressive as he was tonight, and when he rebounds at the level he did tonight, the shots will automatically fall for him.”
See more from the Central Division:
- Jodie Meeks suffered a Jones fracture to his right foot during the Pistons game Wednesday, coach/executive Stan Van Gundy told reporters, according to Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. It’s an injury that some doctors say requires four to six weeks for recovery in some cases, Ellis tweets, though the team hasn’t released a timetable and specifics are scarce, Ellis notes.
- Caron Butler played a half-season for the Bucks in 2013/14 and was briefly on the roster following this year’s Ersan Ilyasova trade, but Milwaukee can thank the native of nearby Racine for his hand in helping the team successfully recruit Greg Monroe, as Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times details. Butler, now with the Kings, and Monroe were teammates on the Pistons last season. “He grew up around here [Milwaukee] and played here and I listened to what he would say about Milwaukee,’’ Monroe said of Butler. “He had some positive things to say about being here. He also definitely played a role in me coming here.’’
- Joakim Noah came to Fred Hoiberg with the suggestion that the Bulls start Pau Gasol and Nikola Mirotic instead of him, the new Bulls coach tells Grantland’s Zach Lowe. Noah was No. 8 in the 2016 Free Agent Power Rankings we compiled before the start of camp, though he figures to drop in the upcoming edition of our rankings now that he’s coming off the bench.
And-Ones: Paul, Agent Changes, Leonard
Chris Paul rejects the notion that he’s a poor teammate, an idea that rumors of a rift between Paul and DeAndre Jordan helped fuel this summer, writes Dan Woike of the Orange County Register. Jordan has downplayed any tension, citing a mutual desire to win, and that’s just what Paul is thinking about as he envisions playing the rest of his career with the Clippers, as Woike details.
“Hell, I never imagined I’d leave New Orleans, but there’s no question this is where I want to be,” Paul said to Woike. “I want to win. Here.”
The earliest Paul can elect free agency is the summer of 2017. See more from around the NBA:
- Agent Michael Tellem, the son of former agent turned Pistons organization executive Arn Tellem, is leaving the Wasserman Media Group for the Creative Artists Agency and taking high-profile client Danilo Gallinari with him, reports international journalist David Pick (Twitter link). Mario Hezonja, Bojan Bogdanovic and Nemanja Bjelica have dropped Tellem and will continue with Wasserman, Pick adds (on Twitter). The loss of Arn Tellem has proven tough for Wasserman, which also lost Al Horford, LaMarcus Aldridge and Joe Johnson over the offseason. Gallinari, Hezonja and Bjelica all signed new deals earlier this summer, while Bogdanovic remains on a deal with the Nets that runs through 2016/17.
- Extension talks between the Trail Blazers and Meyers Leonard are off to a late start, but Leonard’s preference is to stay in Portland, observes Joe Freeman of The Oregonian. The deadline for the sides to reach a deal is Monday. “I really, really like and love this city,” Leonard said. “I love the organization and now that a greater opportunity has presented itself, I think a lot more people are embracing me. I’d love to be here. That’s my hope. But I don’t know if I’ll get an extension. I don’t know what will happen after this year. We’ll have to wait and see.”
- Al Harrington said in March that he was retiring, but instead the 16-year NBA veteran is joining the Sydney Kings of Australia on a four-week deal, league sources told Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia.
Central Notes: Lopez, Pistons, Bulls, Petteway
Bucks coach Jason Kidd confirmed reports that the team had interest in Robin Lopez and Brook Lopez in free agency this summer, notes Marc Berman of the New York Post. Neither ended up in Milwaukee, with Robin going to the Knicks and Brook re-signing with the Nets, though the Bucks did well enough, landing Greg Monroe.
“We liked both of those guys,’’ Kidd said. “They both do something and they’re very productive. I think both teams got maybe the guy they wanted. Looking at the Lopezes, I’ve coached one of them and recruited another. They’ve always played the game the right way. The Knicks ended up with [Robin] Lopez, which is a good pickup for them.”
See more from the Central Division:
- The Pistons have no shortage of players with contractual motivation to prove their worth this season, making “the disease of more” and the potential for selfishness a concern in Detroit, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press details.
- Other Eastern Conference teams improved their rosters in the offseason, but short of adding Bobby Portis and Cristiano Felicio, the Bulls stood pat, making it fair to wonder about Chicago’s apparent determination that the most pressing need for change was at head coach, opines David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune.
- The contract that Terran Petteway was briefly on with the Pacers was non-guaranteed for the minimum salary and covered one season, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders (Twitter link). Indiana absorbed a small cap hit for signing him after Saturday’s deadline to remove non-guaranteed salary without it counting against the cap. The Pacers inked Petteway on Sunday and waived him on Monday to secure his D-League rights.
Central Notes: Hoiberg, Parker, Jefferson, Boatright
Fred Hoiberg chose the Bulls in part because of their ability not just to win now but to have sustained success for the future, Iowa State athletics director Jamie Pollard tells K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. Indeed, long-term thinking is a key for Hoiberg’s Bulls, as the coach has taken a decidedly less-aggressive approach than Tom Thibodeau, his predecessor, leading Jimmy Butler to remark that Hoiberg “really cares about how our body feels,” as Johnson relays. In all, Hoiberg has brought more calm and collaboration to the Bulls, Johnson writes.
“There are days where he just talks and relates to us. That’s big,” Taj Gibson said. “Sometimes, guys come in a little down. It’s good to have a coach that comes to you and says, ‘It’s all right. Things are going to happen. I’ve been there.'”
Another change for the Bulls this season is an opening night roster with 15 players, breaking a longstanding tradition of starting with less than the maximum number of players allowed. See more from around the Central Division:
- The Bucks privately say that they won’t rule out the notion that Jabari Parker‘s absence will extend until late November, according to Gery Woelfel of The Journal Times. Last year’s No. 2 overall pick is still recovering from the torn left ACL he suffered in December.
- The Cavaliers finished with a 1-6 preseason record, but Richard Jefferson was perhaps the team’s most consistent player throughout, an encouraging sign considering the free agent signee’s key role as the backup to LeBron James, as Chris Haynes of the Northeast Ohio Media Group and the Cleveland Plain Dealer details. The 35-year-old Jefferson asked out of a guaranteed one-year deal for the minimum with the Mavs to sign a contract for the same terms with Cleveland.
- The deal that Ryan Boatright signed with the Pistons last week was non-guaranteed, according to Eric Pincus of Basketball Insiders, so since Detroit waived him by the close of business on Saturday, he doesn’t count against the team’s cap. He’s reportedly expected to join Detroit’s D-League team as an affiliate player.
Eastern Notes: Sefolosha, George, Pistons
Hawks shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha will file a civil lawsuit against New York City, its police department and the officers involved for injuries suffered during his arrest outside a Manhattan night club in April, Chris Vivlamore of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Hannah Storm of ESPN.com report. In an interview with Storm — who broke the story — Sefolosha expressed concern about long-term effects from the fractured right tibia and ankle ligament damage he suffered during the arrest. “There is a lot of unknown about how this will affect me two years from now, five years from now, 10 years from now,” Sefolosha said in the television interview. “Also because I think it’s the right approach to put lights on a situation like this and be able to fight back in a legal way and in a way that can empower, hopefully.”
In other news around the Eastern Conference:
- Paul George is getting comfortable with the idea of moving to power forward after initial resistance, according to Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. Pacers coach Frank Vogel told Aschburner that George won’t be a prototypical power forward; he’ll just have more space to utilize his skills. George has gained a greater understanding of his new role after talks with Vogel and team president Larry Bird. “At one point, it was hard to wrap [my head around] everything,” he told Aschburner. “Here I am coming back from a big-time injury and wanting to get back to what I used to be, playing the three. Then I come back playing a stretch four — it took a toll on me mentally. But the more we’ve had practice time and I’ve had sit-down moments with coach and with Larry, the more at ease I’ve felt about the situation.”
- Reggie Bullock wowed Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy during the preseason, which secured not only his place on the roster but also his 2016/17 team option, which Detroit exercised Sunday. Vinc
e Ellis of the Detroit Free Press has the details. “If you really look at the whole thing and you look at consistency game in and game out he was our best player in preseason,” Van Gundy said of the small forward. “I mean, certainly our most consistent guy in the preseason. Really, I mean it would be hard to really find any fault with what he did in the preseason. He’s certainly gained our confidence and by ours, I mean coaching staff and teammates. I think he’s got everybody’s confidence heading into the season.” - Point guard Marcus Smart, rookie shooting guard R.J. Hunter and power forward Kelly Olynyk are among the players who excelled during the Celtics’ training camp, Gary Washburn of the Boston Globe reports. Smart is emerging as a team leader, Hunter has opened eyes with his playmaking skills and Olynyk is shooting with more confidence, Washburn continues. But power forward Jared Sullinger reported to camp overweight and small forward James Young is still another season away from cracking the rotation, Washburn adds.
Pistons Waive Danny Granger
The Pistons have waived Danny Granger, the team announced. The move has been widely expected for weeks as Granger didn’t join the Pistons during the preseason, instead rehabbing on his own in Arizona. Granger has a fully guaranteed salary of $2,170,465 for this season that Detroit will be responsible for, barring a highly unlikely waiver claim from another team. The move takes the Pistons to 15 players, the regular season roster limit. Granger has experienced knee trouble in recent years, but it’s plantar fasciitis that has been the issue of late, as Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports details. He’ll need about a month more to return to health, Wojnarowski hears.
Pistons coach/executive Stan Van Gundy conceded over the past few days that the team was “probably sort of at the end of the road with” the 32-year-old Granger and that it’s all but inevitable the team would waive him. Detroit acquired the former high scorer via trade with Phoenix this summer in a move that also brought in Marcus Morris, who was the centerpiece of the deal for the Pistons, and Reggie Bullock. Indications surfaced even at the time of the trade that the Pistons would waive Granger, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press recently explained to Hoops Rumors. Granger signed a two-year deal with the Heat in 2014 that included a player option, but his health never allowed him to live up to the contract. He picked up his player option in June a few months after Miami traded him to Phoenix in the Goran Dragic deal.
The Pistons spent much of the offseason with 17 fully guaranteed contracts on their books, but they essentially removed any remaining question over who would go when they waived Cartier Martin’s fully guaranteed pact on Friday. That confirmed a regular season roster spot for Bullock, whose strong preseason prompted the team to pick up his option for 2016/17, too.
Do you think we’ll see Granger play in the NBA again? Leave a comment to share your thoughts.
Eastern Notes: Sixers, Knicks, Pistons
The Sixers‘ reputation among several agents around the league likely won’t do the franchise any favors when the team expects to be a player in free agency in the future, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes in an interesting story after speaking with several sources and agents. One agent told Pompey that he doesn’t want his max-level players in Philadelphia, but he is open to his midlevel players signing with the Sixers only if they overpay. Agents also told Pompey that Sixers GM Sam Hinkie is hard to deal with, saying he doesn’t make it a priority to return calls.
- It’s doubtful the Pistons trade Danny Granger, reports David Mayo of MLive.com after asking coach/executive Stan Van Gundy about the possibility. Instead, it seems very likely the Pistons will waive Granger. Granger has a fully guaranteed salary of $2,170,465, one of 16 full guarantees on the Pistons. “We’re probably sort of at the end of the road with him,” Van Gundy said. “We took it as far as we could, hoping to get a look at him, but he hasn’t been ready to come back. So we’ll go with the 15 guys that are here.”
- The Knicks‘ D-League affiliate expects to have Thanasis Antetokounmpo, Darion Atkins, Travis Trice and Wesley Saunders to start season, Marc Berman of the New York Post reports (on Twitter). All four players were cut Friday by the Knicks.
- The Celtics‘ expected starting five on opening night – Marcus Smart, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, David Lee and Tyler Zeller – has been the most successful of the four different starting lineups used in the preseason, A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com writes. That lineup, of course, notably does not include Isaiah Thomas.
Pistons Notes: Morris, Ilyasova, Baynes, Drummond
Newly acquired forwards Marcus Morris and Ersan Ilyasova will be opening-night starters for the Pistons, tweets Keith Langlois of Pistons.com. He adds that coach/executive Stan Van Gundy has confirmed that Steve Blake will be the backup point guard. Morris came to Detroit from the Suns in a July 9th trade, while Ilyasova was part of a June 11th deal with the Bucks. Blake was acquired in a July 13th trade with the Nets.
There’s more from the Motor City:
- Van Gundy expects restrictions on Aron Baynes to be lifted Monday after a consultation with his doctor, Langlois tweets. Baynes, who signed with the Pistons in July, is currently limited to 15 minutes of playing time per game and is not permitted to play in back-to-backs.
- Andre Drummond showed he can be a team leader by agreeing not to hold the Pistons to a Nov. 2 deadline for an extension to his rookie contract, according to David Mayo of MLive. Drummond is expected to get a new deal next summer in the neighborhood of $120MM over five years. The money and terms will be the same for Drummond regardless, but by waiting he gives the Pistons about $12.7MM in additional cap room to chase free agents. His cap hold will be $8.2MM, while his estimated salary would have been nearly $21MM.
- Stanley Johnson is getting early mention as a Rookie of the Year candidate, writes Vince Ellis of The Detroit Free Press. But the 19-year-old, who was the No. 8 pick in the draft, isn’t impressed by the hype. “I just think the whole thing is stupid, honestly,” Johnson said. “The best player will get it, period. All this discussion, whoever, voters — there’s no rhyme or reason. It doesn’t make any sense on what’s actually gonna be. It’s actually funny to read some of this stuff. I kind of laugh at it. With some people you can tell they don’t know what they are talking about.”
Pistons Waive Ryan Boatright
12:35pm: Boatright was waived at 5:00pm Saturday, the deadline for teams to cut players with non-guaranteed salaries without any of their salary hitting the cap, tweets former NBA executive Bobby Marks. He is expected to clear waivers Monday and be designated for the D-League Grand Rapids Drive, Detroit’s affiliate.
11:36am: The Pistons have waived guard Ryan Boatright, the team announced today. He will go to Detroit’s D-League team in Grand Rapids as an “affiliate player,” a designation for someone who was under contract with an NBA team, was waived, and who agreed to sign with the team’s D-League affiliate. An NBA team can claim the D-League rights to up to four players it waives, with the rest subject to the D-League draft if they sign there. The Nets couldn’t make Boatright an affiliate player because they don’t have a D-League affiliate.
Detroit signed Boatright on Friday after he was waived by the Nets earlier in the week. He saw little preseason playing time with Brooklyn, averaging 4.2 points, 3.8 assists and 1.0 turnover in 13.9 minutes per game. Boatright, a 6’0″ guard, was a star at Connecticut, was wasn’t selected in June’s draft.
The move brings the Pistons’ roster down to 16 players, all of whom have fully guaranteed contracts. Veteran Danny Granger is expected to waived to reach to maximum of 15.
Pistons Exercise Options on Caldwell-Pope, Bullock
The Pistons have exercised team options on Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Reggie Bullock, the team announced today. The moves will affect both players’ contracts for the 2016/17 season.
Caldwell-Pope, a 6’5″ guard, was the eighth overall pick in the 2013 draft. He has played in 162 games in Detroit, starting 123, and has averaged 9.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.0 assists. He was part of the Rising Stars Challenge during the 2015 All-Star Weekend.
The Pistons acquired Bullock, a 6’7″ forward, in a July 9th trade with the Suns. He had a productive preseason, averaging 10.7 points, 2.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 19.3 minutes of playing time. He was taken by the Clippers with the 25th pick in 2013.
Bullock’s place on the roster for this season wasn’t assured at the start of camp, but a strong preseason sold the Pistons on him and brought the idea of picking up his 2016/17 option into play, as Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press wrote last week. His option is worth $2,255,644, while Caldwell-Pope’s calls for him to make $3,678,319. That adds about $5.9MM to the Pistons’ salary commitments for 2016/17, bringing the total to nearly $48.3MM against a projected $89MM cap.